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Reverence Dies Within

by Crown the Lost

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Without End 04:42
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No Reprieve 05:02
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about

Reverence Dies Within (2005 – 2006)
Being that we were located in Pittsburgh, PA, recording a proper album seemed the way to go. Really, the chances of us getting “discovered” were slim and none. And slim had just left town. Silly sayings aside, we were extraordinarily prepared to record, the product of rehearsing 4-5 times a week. Jon (who is also my stepbrother) joined the band in April of that year, having returned home from school on a permanent basis. Little did we know he’d go onto much greater things…

The rest of the band needed some severe coaxing to go such a route, mainly due to lack of funds and the overhang of doubt over recording a full-length barely a year into our existence. One can instantly remember such memorable moments as Renaldi’s mom cutting a check to me for his portion of the album, or the pawning of various instruments or video game consoles (read: Ryan’s Xbox) to meet the determined $3,500 budget, but we made it…somehow.

It was at this time that we established the songwriting division of labor in the band. Joe would do one-half of the songs; I would take the other. Such a split isn’t commonplace; most bands have one dude carrying the load, or it’s a total “group effort,” but CTL in its entire existence was never a group effort when it came to songwriting. Joe or I would bring in a song, show it to the band, and more often than not, that’s how it ended up. We never made tweaks, probably because we were worried about upsetting the responsible songwriter. However, out of this songwriting run came a few cuts we were most proud of, including “Swear to the Peerless,” “No Reprieve,” and “A Way out of Madness,” which was the first song we posted for the album on good ‘ole MySpace.

Recording of Reverence Dies Within (the title 100% nicked from a line used by Anathema in “Restless Oblivion") commenced in June 2006 at Eric Klinger’s (Pro-Pain) studio in West-View, PA. The plan was to have Jon do his drums in one day, which was totally absurd given that we were recording nine songs, each with varying degrees of difficulty. Jon was able to knock everything out, though, thanks in large part to tempo mapping, and some studio trickery from Klinger, who was able to move various drum parts around so Jon didn’t have to play a particular song all the way through.

Once past the recording of guitars and bass, vocals were of concern to all parties. Renaldi was young (like, 18) when he cut his vocal lines but managed to bang them out in a matter of days. We didn’t have the foresight to figure out vocal harmonies, so we called in Matt Bizilia of Icarus Witch to lay down harmonies on “Prelude to Fall,” “A Way Out of Madness,” and “Reverence Dies Within.” Funny, for some people would go on to ask, “Who’s the chick singer on the album?” Lesson learned. Nevertheless, Renaldi’s clean vocal approach was in stark contrast to our aggressive brand of melodic – and sometimes extreme – thrash, thus forever establishing our sound.

The recording process for Reverence took roughly a month, with completion around the tail-end of June 2006. We opted to press and release the thing ourselves, a wise move at the time, for people still had the goodwill to purchase physical product. We managed to sell out of the first pressing of Reverence (500 in all) within four month’s time, promptly funding the band for the next several years. Progress on the live front in Pittsburgh was minimal, but we were able to get the album out to the metal press, whereupon quite a few good reviews happened upon us. Gradually, labels started inquiring about us, bulk orders from Greece and Germany for Reverence started coming in, and the all-too-predictable band squabbles started to take place.

Nevertheless, I hold this particular period with a degree of fondness (or should I say “reverence?”), for those formative years was full of good times, songwriting breakthroughs, and the notion that we could succeed as a band, in spite of our differences, locale, and style of metal. Even though we lost Jon to Job for a Cowboy in December of that year (I could pen an entirely new column about that altogether), we forged on, already with plans in hand for our sophomore album, one that would allow us to “make it.” Ah, to be so naive…

-David E. Gehlke, January 2014

credits

released September 13, 2006

Chris Renaldi - Vocals
Joe Bonaddio - Lead Guitars/Vocals
David E. Gehlke - Rhythm Guitars
Ryan Eicheldinger - Bass
Jon Rice - Drums

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Crown the Lost Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This is the official Bandcamp page for defunct Pittsburgh melodic thrash metallers Crown the Lost.

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